Method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for transferring of promotions

ABSTRACT

Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for facilitating transfer of promotions. A promotion and marketing service may allow for assignment of one or more promotions to a first provider or consumer. A method for transferring promotions may include assigning a promotion to a first user account. The promotion may be redeemable by a first user account to obtain a good, service, or experience. The method may also include receiving a request to transfer the promotion to at least one second user account, receiving a promotion reassignment trigger, and in response to receiving the promotion reassignment trigger, assigning the promotion to the second user account using a processor, wherein assignment of the promotion to the second user account enables the second user account to redeem the promotion to obtain the good, service, or experience.

FIELD

Embodiments of the invention relate, generally, to providing promotionsand, more particularly, to transferring promotions.

BACKGROUND

Providers sell goods and services (collectively referred to herein as“products”) to consumers. The providers can often control the form oftheir product offers, the timing of their product offers, and the priceat which the products will be offered. The merchant may sell products ata brick-and-mortar sales location, a virtual online site, or both.Merchants have developed various forms of discounts, promotions, andother methods to provide additional value to consumers in an effort toentice consumers to purchase their wares. As technology has advanced, soto have these marketing and promotional techniques, and with new methodsof providing value to consumers, so too have new challenges and problemsbeen identified.

Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, many of theseidentified problems have been solved by developing solutions that areincluded in embodiments of the present invention, many examples of whichare described in detail herein.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present invention provided herein includesystems, methods and computer readable media for facilitating transferof purchased promotions between consumers and providers. For example,provided here is a method for transferring purchased promotions from afirst consumer to a second consumer. The method may include issuing apromotion to a first consumer account. The promotion may be assigned tothe first consumer, such that the first consumer may redeem thepromotion to obtain a good, service, or experience associated with thepromotion. The method may further include receiving a promotionreassignment trigger. In response to receiving the promotionreassignment trigger, the method may transfer the promotion to a secondconsumer, such that the second consumer may redeem the promotion toobtain the good, service, or experience.

Embodiments may include a method for transferring promotions. The methodmay include assigning a promotion to a first user account. The promotionmay be redeemable by the first user account to obtain a good, service,or experience. The method may further include receiving a request totransfer the promotion to at least one second user account, receiving apromotion reassignment trigger, and, in response to receiving thepromotion reassignment trigger, assigning the promotion to the seconduser account using a processor. Assignment of the promotion to thesecond user account may enable the second user account to redeem thepromotion to obtain the good, service, or experience. The method mayinclude sending a notification to the at least one second user accountto notify the at least one second user account of the promotion. Thenotification may be at least one of an e-mail, a text message, or asocial network message. The notification may include a link that, uponselection of the link, causes the promotion reassignment trigger to besent. The notification may be a post to a social network. The method mayfurther include verifying an identity of the second user account priorto assigning the promotion to the second user account.

Embodiments may also include additional embodiments of a method fortransferring promotions. Some of these embodiments may includegenerating a notification using a processor. The notification may beassociated with a one or more promotions. The notification may alsoinclude an interface control that, when selected, initiates a transferof at least one of the promotions to a user account associated withselection of the interface control. The method may include providing thenotification to a plurality of user accounts, receiving at least onepromotion reassignment trigger in response to a selection of theinterface control, and, in response to receiving the promotionreassignment trigger, causing the transfer of the at least one of thepromotions to the user account associated with selection of theinterface control. The method may also include causing a transfer ofeach of the one or more promotions in response to receiving a pluralityof promotion reassignment triggers from the plurality of user accounts.The method may include verifying that each user account does not receivemore than one of the one or more promotions. In some embodiments, themethod may include verifying that at least one untransferred promotionremains prior to causing the transfer. The notification may be at leastone of an e-mail, a social network post, or a text message. Thenotification may be a social network post and the method furthercomprises verifying the identity of the user account that selected thenotification using the social network to which the notification wasprovided. The identity of the user account may be linked to an accountwith a promotion and marketing service, and the transfer of the at leastone of the promotions may be caused by the promotion and marketingservice. The plurality of user accounts may be associated with socialnetworking contacts of a user generating the notification.

Embodiments may also include a computer program product. The computerprogram product may include at least one computer-readable storagemedium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein.The computer-readable program code portions may include an executableportion configured to assign a promotion to a first user account. Thepromotion may be redeemable by the first user account to obtain a good,service, or experience. The code portions may also include an executableportion configured to receive a request to transfer the promotion to atleast one second user account, an executable portion configured toreceive a promotion reassignment trigger, and an executable portionconfigured to, in response to receiving the promotion reassignmenttrigger, assign the promotion to the second user account, enabling thesecond user account to redeem the promotion to obtain the good, service,or experience.

Embodiments may include another computer program product comprising atleast one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readableprogram code portions stored therein. The computer-readable program codeportions may include an executable portion configured to generate anotification. The notification may be associated with one or morepromotions and include an interface control that, when selected,initiates a transfer of at least one of the promotions to a user accountassociated with selection of the interface control. Thecomputer-readable program code portions may also include an executableportion configured to provide the notification to a plurality of useraccounts, an executable portion configured to receive at least onepromotion reassignment trigger in response to a selection of theinterface control, and an executable portion configured to, in responseto receiving the promotion reassignment trigger, cause the transfer ofthe at least one of the promotions to the user account associated withselection of the interface control. The computer program product mayinclude an executable portion configured to cause a transfer of each ofthe one or more promotions in response to receiving a plurality ofpromotion reassignment triggers from the plurality of user accounts. Insome embodiments, the computer program product includes an executableportion configured to verify that each user account does not receivemore than one of the one or more promotions. The computer programproduct may also include an executable portion configured to verify thatat least one untransferred promotion remains prior to causing thetransfer. The notification may be at least one of an e-mail, a socialnetwork post, or a text message. In some embodiments, the notificationmay be a social network post and the computer program product mayinclude an executable portion configured to verify the identity of theuser account that selected the notification using the social network towhich the notification was provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Having thus described embodiments of the invention in general terms,reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a system in accordance with someembodiments discussed herein;

FIG. 2 depicts a schematic block diagram of an example of circuitry thatcan be included in a computing device, such as an order fulfillmentsystem, in accordance with some embodiments discussed herein;

FIG. 3 depicts a screen capture of an interface for reassigning apromotion in accordance with some embodiments discussed herein;

FIG. 4 depicts a screen capture of an interface for receiving apromotion via a social network system in accordance with someembodiments discussed herein;

FIG. 5 depicts a screen capture of an interface for providing an openreassignment of a promotion via a social network system in accordancewith some embodiments discussed herein;

FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart showing an example of a process fortransferring a promotion in accordance with some embodiments discussedherein;

FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart showing an example of a process fortransferring a promotion using a social network in accordance with someembodiments discussed herein; and

FIG. 8 depicts a flow chart showing an example of a process forgenerating a reminder of an expiring promotion to facilitate a promotiontransfer operation in accordance with some embodiments discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention now will be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some,but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, embodimentsof the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should notbe construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfyapplicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout.

Definitions and Overview

Discounts and promotions have been used as part of some retailstrategies. In this regard, a promotion and marketing service may assistproviders by facilitating the distribution of promotions to consumers.The promotion and marketing service may ensure that promotions areprovided in an organized and efficient manner in order to maximize thereturn on investment and marketing utility received by the provider fromthe promotions. However, circumstances may exist where consumers obtainpromotions (e.g., by purchasing instruments that may be redeemed toobtain a discount or other benefit of the promotion), but do not takeadvantage of the promotion. These promotions may be assigned to theparticular consumer, where they remain, unused. Unused promotions areinconvenient for providers, in that they may represent liabilities tothe provider that must be accounted for until redemption. Furthermore,unused promotions fail to serve the marketing interest of the provider,as one of the benefits of issuing promotions is to entice customers totry the products offered by the provider. From the consumer perspective,unused promotions typically represent a financial loss to the consumer,as many promotions may require a payment to access. In this regard, anumber of deficiencies and problems associated with the systems used to,among other things, provide discounts to consumers have been identified.

As used herein, the terms “data,” “content,” “information” and similarterms may be used interchangeably to refer to data capable of beingcaptured, transmitted, received, displayed and/or stored in accordancewith various example embodiments. Thus, use of any such terms should notbe taken to limit the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Further, wherea computing device is described herein to receive data from anothercomputing device, it will be appreciated that the data may be receiveddirectly from the another computing device or may be received indirectlyvia one or more intermediary computing devices, such as, for example,one or more servers, relays, routers, network access points, basestations, and/or the like, sometimes referred to herein as a “network.”Similarly, where a computing device is described herein to send data toanother computing device, it will be appreciated that the data may besent directly to the another computing device or may be sent indirectlyvia one or more intermediary computing devices, such as, for example,one or more servers, relays, routers, network access points, basestations, and/or the like.

The term “promotion” may include, but is not limited to, any type ofoffered, presented or otherwise indicated reward, discount, coupon,credit, deal, incentive, discount, media or the like that is indicativeof a promotional value or the like that upon purchase or acceptanceresults in the issuance of an instrument that may be used toward atleast a portion of the purchase of particular goods, services and/orexperiences defined by the promotion. Promotions may be offered bymerchants in an exchange with a consumer. For example, a merchant mayoffer access to a promotion to a consumer in exchange for a sum ofdollars. Promotions may also be created and purchased by the merchantthemselves. For example, a merchant may request a set of promotions froma promotion and marketing service, and the promotion and marketingservice may provide the merchant with the ability to offer said set ofpromotions to consumers in exchange for a nominal fee. Promotions aretypically described as being associated with a particular merchant orconsumer account, whereby the associated merchant or consumer has“ownership” of the promotion in that they may redeem the promotion for aproduct, good, service, or the like. Redemption may occur by using aninstrument associated with the promotion, as described below.

An example promotion, using a running apparel company as an exampleprovider, is $25 for $50 toward running shoes. In some examples, thepromotion defines an accepted value (e.g., a cost to purchase thepromotion), a promotional value (e.g., the value of the resultantinstrument beyond the accepted value), a residual value (e.g., the valueupon return or upon expiry of one or more redemption parameters), one ormore redemptions parameters and/or the like. For example, and using therunning company promotion as an example, the accepted value is $25 andthe promotional value is $50. In this example, the residual value may beequal to the accepted value.

The term “instrument” may include, but is not limited to, any type ofgift card, tender, electronic certificate, medium of exchange, voucher,or the like that embodies the terms of the promotion from which theinstrument resulted and may be used toward at least a portion of thepurchase, acquisition, procurement, consumption or the like of goods,services and/or experiences. A consumer or merchant that is associatedwith a particular promotion may generate an instrument to use thepromotion. For example, a consumer may print an instrument comprised ofa barcode on a sheet of paper, such that a merchant may scan the barcodewith a barcode scanner to redeem the promotion. As another example, aconsumer may associate the promotion with their particular mobiledevice, such that the mobile device transmits a code via near-fieldcommunication to a near-field communication receiver, and thetransmitted code acts as the instrument. Upon use of the instrument, thepromotion may be marked by the promotion and marketing system asredeemed, such that a particular promotion may not be redeemed more thanonce (unless, for example, the consumer purchases a quantity of morethan one of the promotion). In some embodiments, instruments may beassociated with particular consumers in addition to particularpromotions, and transfer of the promotion to another consumer asdescribed herein may cause a revocation of any instruments associatedwith the first consumer. In some examples, the instrument may take theform of tender that has a given value that is exchangeable for goods,services and/or experiences and/or a reduction in a purchase price of aparticular good, service or experience.

In some examples, the instrument may have multiple values, such asaccepted value, a promotional value and/or a residual value. Forexample, using the aforementioned running company as the exampleprovider, an electronic indication in a mobile application may show $50of value to spend at the running company, and access to the promotionmay be provided in exchange for $25. In some examples, the acceptedvalue of the instrument (e.g., $25) may be defined by the valueexchanged for the instrument, and the promotional value (e.g., $50) maybe defined by the promotion from which the instrument resulted and isthe value of the instrument beyond the accepted value. In some examples,the residual value is the value after redemption, the value after theexpiry or other violation of a redemption parameter, the return orexchange value of the instrument and/or the like.

Example embodiments of promotion transfer operations are providedherein. Although some example embodiments relate to the transfer ofpromotions from a first consumer to a second consumer, and some exampleembodiments relate to transfer of promotions from providers toconsumers, it should be readily appreciated that the various examplesrelating to transfer between consumers and transfer from a provider to aconsumer are equally applicable. As such, it should be understood thatsuch examples are equally applicable whether the sender or recipient isa provider or a consumer.

Example Network Architecture

FIG. 1 depicts a system 100 that includes an example of a networkarchitecture for a system in accordance with some embodiments discussedherein. The system 100 may include one or more devices and sub-systemsthat are configured to implement some embodiments as discussed herein.For example, the system 100 may include a promotion and marketingservice 102. The promotion and marketing service 102 may communicatewith a sender device 104, a recipient device 106, and a socialnetworking service 108. The promotion and marketing service 102 maystore information on promotion assignments within a promotion assignmentdatabase 118. The promotion and marketing service 102 may provide forthe transfer of promotions from a first consumer to a second consumer inaccordance with embodiments of the invention.

The sender device 104 and the recipient device 106 may be computingdevices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digitalassistants, smartphones, cellular phones, netbook computers, or anyother device operable to place product orders or receive digitalnotifications. In the present context, the sender device 104 and thereceiver device 106 are generally described as being associated with twoseparate consumers (e.g., a first consumer with the sender device and asecond consumer with the recipient device). However, embodiments of theinvention may be equally applicable to scenarios where the firstconsumer and the second consumer utilize the same device. As such, theexamples herein should not be understood to be limited to embodimentswhich require two separate devices.

The promotion and marketing service 102 may function as a host or servercomputer to provide for accepting, generating, transferring, andotherwise accessing promotions and associated instruments. In someembodiments, the promotion and marketing service 102 may be configuredto receive requests for and to provide promotions via a web interface.The promotion and marketing service 102 may comprise a redemption module110, a transfer module 112, and a notification module 114. Each of themodules 110, 112, 114 may be implemented as hardware, software, or acombination of the two as described below with respect to FIG. 2.

The redemption module 110 may provide the capability of redeeming aninstrument in order to take advantage of a promotion. For example, theredemption module 110 may be operable to verify the validity of aninstrument, and to notify a point-of-sale system of the successfulredemption so that the consumer redeeming the instrument is providedwith the benefit associated with the promotion. In some embodiments, theredemption module 110 may receive an identity of a particular consumer,and verify that the consumer is associated with the redeemed instrumentand/or promotion by accessing the promotion assignment database 118.Additionally or alternatively, the redemption module 110 may provide thecapability to redeem a promotion without using an instrument; forexample, the redemption module 110 may provide an interface thatinterfaces with a provider system to notify the provider of thepromotion for which the consumer is eligible, and to facilitateredemption of the promotion directly without the need for an instrument.In some embodiments, the redemption module 110 may also provide aninterface for a consumer to purchase access to the promotion, and toassociate the purchased promotion with the purchasing consumer in thepromotion assignment database 118.

The transfer module 112 may provide the ability to transfer a promotionassociated with a first consumer to a second consumer. For example, afirst consumer may purchase access to a promotion, but change their mindabout using the promotion. The transfer module 112 may provide thecapability for the first consumer to reassign the promotion to a secondconsumer such that the second consumer may take advantage of thepromotion. The transfer module 112 may further provide for confirmationof the transfer of the promotion. For example, the second consumer maybe provided with an interface to accept the transfer of the promotion,and the promotion may not be transferred to the second consumer untilthe second consumer accepts the promotion from the first consumer. Inthis manner, the reassignment may not occur until the transfer module112 detects a promotion reassignment trigger. The promotion reassignmenttrigger may be understood to include a particular criterion or set ofcriteria that must be met prior to causing the transfer of the promotionfrom the first consumer to the second consumer. Example promotionreassignment triggers may include the second consumer indicating thatthey wish to accept the promotion via an interface control presented ina web interface by the promotion and marketing service, or selection ofa link in an e-mail or other message, such as generated by thenotification module 114. The term “interface control” should beunderstood to refer to any element of a user interface that may beselected. For example, the interface control may include buttons, text(e.g., hyperlinks), menus, scroll bars or any other component of anapplication interface that is selectable by a cursor movement, gesture,keystroke, mouse click or any other method of interacting with acomputer. Additionally or alternatively, the promotion reassignmenttrigger may include selection of an interface control provided by asocial networking service, such as the social networking service 108. Apromotion reassignment trigger provided in this manner may furtherinclude verification of the second consumer's identity via the socialnetworking service 108, such as by a unified login operation thatverifies the second consumer's credentials with the social networkingservice 108. For example, the first consumer may designate that thepromotion should be transferred to a particular second consumer byproviding the transfer module 112 with a social networking account forthe second consumer (e.g., a Facebook® or Twitter® account). Thetransfer module 112 may verify with the particular social network that aconsumer seeking to accept the transfer is, in fact, associated with thedesignated social networking account by using an identity authenticationmechanism provided by that social networking account.

In some embodiments, the transfer module 112 may further provide fordetermining that the second consumer is a valid recipient of thepromotion offer by ensuring that the second consumer can comply with anyredemption terms associated with the promotion. For example, if thepromotion is for a bottle of wine, the transfer module 112 may verifythat the second consumer is at least 21 years of age prior to assigningthe promotion to the second consumer. The transfer module 112 may alsodetermine whether the second consumer is associated with a valid useraccount, a valid e-mail address, a valid social network account, a validpayment account (e.g., a savings account, a credit card, PayPal®) or thelike, prior to transferring the promotion.

The transfer module 112 may facilitate transfer of the promotion fromthe first consumer to the second consumer by reassigning the promotionfrom the first consumer to the second consumer within the promotionassignment database. For example, the promotion assignment database 118may include references for each promotion offered by the promotion andmarketing system 102, and to which consumers those promotions areassociated. As one specific example, the promotion may be transferredbetween the consumers by modifying the consumer to which the particularpromotion is associated.

In some embodiments, the transfer module 112 may further track thestatus of a promotion transfer operation. For example, once the firstconsumer initiates transfer of the promotion, the promotion may bemarked as “in transfer” and the promotion may be locked from redemptionuntil the transfer has completed (e.g., until the second consumer hasbeen verified as being eligible for the promotion and the secondconsumer has accepted the transfer). In some embodiments, the firstconsumer may abort the transfer prior to acceptance of the transfer bythe second consumer.

The notification module 114 may notify consumers of the status of theirtransfer operations. This status notification may include generating ane-mail, text message, social network message, a message via thepromotion and marketing system, or any other method of informingconsumers of the status of a promotion transfer operation. For example,a second user may be notified of an incoming promotion transfer via ane-mail generated by the notification module 114, and the e-mail mayinclude a hyperlink to accept the transfer to reassign the promotion tothe second consumer's account. In some embodiments, the notificationmodule 114 may determine that the second consumer does not have anactive account with the promotion and marketing system 102, and thenotification may also provide the user with a link to register with thepromotion and marketing system 102.

The notification module 114 may be further configured to interface withone or more social networking services 108. For example, thenotification module 114 may be configured to “post” or “tweet” anotification of the deal transfer to one or more social networkingaccounts designated by the first consumer. The notification module 114may act in conjunction with the transfer module 112 to designateconsumers to receive the promotion. For example, the notification module114 may send a notification to a particular consumer's social networkaccount with a link that is only valid for the particular consumer. Insuch circumstances, an identity authentication mechanism provided by thesocial networking service 108 may be used to confirm the identity of therecipient. Alternatively or additionally, the notification module 114may send a notification to a plurality of users. For example, the firstconsumer may create a post in a public or group location (e.g., theuser's “Wall”), including a link to obtain the promotion. As such, thefirst user to select the link from the user's public or group locationwould receive the reassigned deal offer. The notification module 114and/or transfer module 112 may provide the ability to configure suchnotifications to identify if the promotion should be sent to a singleconsumer, a group of consumers, or as a public redemption. As anotherexample, the notification module 114 may generate a post containing alink to the promotion. Content associated with the link may provideadditional content about the promotion, such as the value of thepromotion, and terms and conditions associated with the promotion, orany other information about the promotion as displayed in contentseparate from the original post. In response to selection of the link,the selecting consumer may be presented with an interface that allowsthe selecting consumer to view the additional content and to initiate atransfer of the promotion to the selecting consumer. The selectingconsumer may elect to initiate the transfer, or the consumer may decidethe promotion is not of their interest and they may instead leave thecontent without accepting the transfer or otherwise decline thetransfer. The additional content may only be viewable until thepromotion is accepted by a user. For example, the link may direct asecond consumer to a “promotion already claimed” page in the event afirst consumer has already accepted a transfer of the promotion.

In some embodiments, the notification module 114 may also function tonotify users of expiring promotions. For example, a promotion purchasedby a user or otherwise associated with a user account may only be validfor a particular time period (e.g., 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 4weeks, or the like). As the expiration date of the promotion approaches,the notification module 114 may send a message to the user accountassociated with the promotion, reminding the user that the promotion isdue to expire. In some embodiments, this message may include a link orother interface control to enable the user to transfer the promotion toanother user. For example, the message may include a statement to theeffect of, “This promotion is expiring soon, would you like to give itto another user as a gift?”

Additionally or alternatively, the redemption module 110, the transfermodule 112, and/or the notification module 114 may be used by providersfor similar reassignment operations as those described above withrespect to reassignment from a first consumer to a second consumer. Forexample, a provider may purchase several promotions and providenotifications on a personal web page, via one or more e-mails, or via aprovider social network page, and provide links to reassign thepurchased promotions to consumers.

The promotion and marketing service 102, the sender device 104, therecipient device 106, and the social network service 108 may communicatewith one another via a network 116. The network 116 may include anywired or wireless communication network including, for example, a wiredor wireless local area network (LAN), personal area network (PAN),metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN), or the like,as well as any hardware, software and/or firmware required to implementit (such as, e.g., network routers, etc.). For example, the network 116may include a cellular telephone, an 802.11, 802.16, 802.20, and/orWiMax network. Further, the network 116 may include a public network,such as the Internet, a private network, such as an intranet, orcombinations thereof, and may utilize a variety of networking protocolsnow available or later developed including, but not limited to TCP/IPbased networking protocols.

Example System Architecture

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of example circuitry that may be includedin the promotion and marketing service 102, which may be configured toperform the analysis, management and/or other functionality discussed inconnection with the promotion and marketing service 102 described withrespect to FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 2 and in accordance with someexample embodiments, the promotion and marketing service 102 may includevarious means, such as a processor 200, a memory 202, a communicationsmodule 204, an input/output module 206, a redemption module 110, atransfer module 112, and a notification module 114.

The processor 200 may, for example, be embodied as various meansincluding one or more microprocessors with accompanying digital signalprocessor(s), one or more processor(s) without an accompanying digitalsignal processor, one or more coprocessors, one or more multi-coreprocessors, one or more controllers, processing circuitry, one or morecomputers, various other processing elements including integratedcircuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specific integratedcircuit) or FPGA (field programmable gate array), or some combinationthereof. Accordingly, although illustrated in FIG. 2 as a singleprocessor, in some embodiments, the processor 200 comprises a pluralityof processors. The plurality of processors may be embodied on a singlecomputing device or may be distributed across a plurality of computingdevices collectively configured to function as circuitry. The pluralityof processors may be in operative communication with one another and maybe collectively configured to perform one or more functionalities of theorder fulfillment system 102 as described herein. In an exampleembodiment, the processor 200 is configured to execute instructionsstored in the memory 202 or otherwise accessible to the processor 200.These instructions, when executed by the processor 200, may cause theorder fulfillment system 102 to perform one or more of thefunctionalities as described herein.

Whether configured by hardware, firmware/software methods, or by acombination thereof, the processor 200 may comprise an entity capable ofperforming operations according to embodiments of the present inventionwhile configured accordingly. Thus, for example, when the processor 200is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA or the like, the processor 200 may comprisespecifically configured hardware for conducting one or more operationsdescribed herein. Alternatively, as another example, when the processor200 is embodied as an executor of instructions, such as may be stored inthe memory 202, the instructions may specifically configure theprocessor 200 to perform one or more algorithms and operations describedherein, such as those described with respect to FIGS. 3-8.

The memory 202 may comprise, for example, volatile memory, non-volatilememory, or some combination thereof. Although illustrated in FIG. 2 as asingle memory, the memory 202 may comprise a plurality of memorycomponents. The plurality of memory components may be embodied on asingle computing device or distributed across a plurality of computingdevices. In various embodiments, the memory 202 may comprise, forexample, a hard disk, random access memory, cache memory, flash memory,a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc readonly memory (DVD-ROM), an optical disc, circuitry configured to storeinformation, or some combination thereof. The memory 202 may beconfigured to store information, data (including deal parameter dataand/or analytics data), applications, instructions, or the like forenabling the promotion and marketing service 102 to carry out variousfunctions in accordance with example embodiments of the presentinvention. For example, in at least some embodiments, the memory 202 isconfigured to buffer input data for processing by the processor 200.Additionally or alternatively, in at least some embodiments, the memory202 is configured to store program instructions for execution by theprocessor 200. The memory 202 may store information in the form ofstatic and/or dynamic information. This stored information may be storedand/or used by the order fulfillment system 102 during the course ofperforming its functionalities.

The communications module 204 may be embodied as any device or meansembodied in circuitry, hardware, a computer program product comprisingcomputer readable program instructions stored on a computer readablemedium (e.g., the memory 202) and executed by a processing device (e.g.,the processor 200), or a combination thereof that is configured toreceive and/or transmit data from/to another device, such as, forexample, the sender device 104, the recipient device 106, the socialnetwork service 108, and/or the like. In some embodiments, thecommunications module 204 (like other components discussed herein) canbe at least partially embodied as or otherwise controlled by theprocessor 200. In this regard, the communications module 204 may be incommunication with the processor 200, such as via a bus. Thecommunications module 204 may include, for example, an antenna, atransmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, network interface card and/orsupporting hardware and/or firmware/software for enabling communicationswith another computing device. The communications module 204 may beconfigured to receive and/or transmit any data that may be stored by thememory 202 using any protocol that may be used for communicationsbetween computing devices. The communications module 204 mayadditionally or alternatively be in communication with the memory 202,the input/output module 206 and/or any other component of the orderfulfillment system 102, such as via a bus.

The input/output module 206 may be in communication with the processor200 to receive an indication of a user input and/or to provide anaudible, visual, mechanical, or other output to a user (e.g., apromotional system administrator and/or cloud computer programmer). Assuch, the input/output module 206 may include support, for example, fora keyboard, a mouse, a joystick, a display, a touch screen display, amicrophone, a speaker, a RFID reader, barcode reader, biometric scanner,and/or other input/output mechanisms. In embodiments wherein thepromotion and marketing service 102 is embodied as a server, aspects ofthe input/output module 206 may be reduced as compared to embodimentswhere the promotion and marketing service 102 is implemented as anend-user machine (e.g., consumer device and/or merchant device) or othertype of device designed for complex user interactions. In someembodiments (like other components discussed herein), the input/outputmodule 206 may even be eliminated from the promotion and marketingservice 102. The input/output module 206 may be in communication withthe memory 202, the communications module 204, and/or any othercomponent(s), such as via a bus. Although more than one input/outputmodule and/or other component can be included in the promotion andmarketing service 102, only one is shown in FIG. 2 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing (like the other components discussedherein).

The redemption module 110, the transfer module 112, and the notificationmodule 114 may also be included and configured to transfer promotions asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 1. In some embodiments, some or allof the functionality of providing digital notification to recipients ofphysical products may be performed by processor 200. In this regard, theexample processes and algorithms discussed herein can be performed by atleast one processor 200. For example, non-transitory computer readablemedia can be configured to store firmware, one or more applicationprograms, and/or other software, which include instructions and othercomputer-readable program code portions that can be executed to controleach processor (e.g., the processor 200) of the components of thepromotion and marketing service 102 to implement various operations,including the examples shown above. As such, a series ofcomputer-readable program code portions are embodied in one or morecomputer program products and can be used, with a computing device,server, and/or other programmable apparatus, to producemachine-implemented processes.

Example Interfaces

FIG. 3 depicts a screen capture of an interface 300 for reassigning apromotion in accordance with some embodiments discussed herein. Theinterface 300 depicts a display for reassigning a promotion within anexample of a promotion and marketing service. The interface 300 includesa display of one or more promotions, such as the promotion 302. Thepromotion 302 may include various information and details about theparticular promotion, such as the name of the provider, the value of thepromotion, an image associated with the promotion, or the like. Thepromotion 302 may be further associated with a menu that includes aninterface control 304 to initiate a transfer of the promotion to anotherconsumer. For example, upon selection of the interface control 304, theconsumer may be presented with an interface that allows for selection ofa recipient consumer, such as by allowing the first consumer to input ane-mail address or other identifier for the second user. In someembodiments, selection of the interface control 304 may provide thefirst consumer with an interface to select from the first consumer'scontacts (e.g., from an e-mail address book), the first consumer'ssocial networking “friends” (e.g., Facebook® friends or Twitter®followers), or the like. The first consumer may also be presented withan interface to draft a message to notify the recipient of the promotiontransfer.

FIG. 4 depicts a screen capture of an interface 400 for receiving apromotion via a social network system in accordance with someembodiments discussed herein. The interface 400 depicts a “post” on asocial networking page associated with a receiving consumer, whereby thereceiving consumer may select a link included in the post 402 to receivea transfer of the displayed promotion. Although the present exampledepicts a public post 402 for effecting transfer of the promotion, thepromotion may also be transferred in a similar manner through the use ofa private message via the social networking system. Upon selection ofthe link within the post 402, the receiving consumer may be directed toan interface for receiving the transfer of the promotion. In someembodiments, a “cookie” associated with the receiving consumer's sessionmay be used to verify to which consumer account the promotion should beassociated. In some embodiments, the receiving consumer may not have anaccount with the promotion and marketing service 102, and selection ofthe link may prompt the receiving consumer to create an account with thepromotion and marketing service 102. Upon creation of an account, thereceiving consumer may have the promotion associated with their newlycreated account. As described above with respect to FIG. 1, selection ofthe link may further initiate an identity authentication operation withthe social network service to verify that the receiving consumer isassociated with the social network account for which the transfer wasintended.

FIG. 5 depicts a screen capture of an interface 500 for providing anopen reassignment of a promotion via a social network system inaccordance with some embodiments discussed herein. As described above,notifications may be generated that facilitate transfer of promotions ina recipient-agnostic format by transferring the promotion to any userthat selects the link or, alternatively, to any user from a particulargroup of users that selects the link. In this regard, embodiments mayfacilitate transfer of the promotion to one or more users that selectthe link on a “first come, first served” manner. The interface 500 thusdepicts a social network service post 502 that facilitates such atransfer. Upon selecting the link within the post, a transfer operationmay be initiated between the consumer and/or provider that posted thelink to the consumer that selected the link. Embodiments of theinvention may further facilitate the transfer by verifying if thetransfer link is still valid (e.g., by verifying that another consumerhas not redeemed the promotion transfer already). In some embodiments, agiven post 502 may be associated with multiple promotions. For example,a provider may purchase or otherwise obtain a number of promotions fortheir own product or service, and provide said promotions via a post ona provider social network page, a provider web page, via a providere-mail list, or the like.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart showing an example of a process 600 fortransferring a promotion in accordance with some embodiments discussedherein. As described above, the promotion and marketing service 102 mayfunction to assign one or more promotions to consumers or providers, andperform transfer operations to transfer the promotions to differentconsumers or providers. The process 600 provides a method by which thepromotion and marketing service 102 may function to facilitate thetransfer of promotions among consumers and providers utilizing thepromotion and marketing service 102. For example, a user may wish toreassign a promotion they previously purchased and associated with theiruser account.

Alternatively, the user may be provided with a promotion expressly forthe purpose of reassignment. For example, the user may receive a card orpromotional code from a merchant that enables them to provide apromotion to another user, such as via a card that includes a messagestating “Give your favorite dish to a friend!” As yet anotheralternative, the promotion may be provided to the user for their own useimmediately or on a return visit (e.g., as a promotional code includedon a receipt), but the user may instead be provided with the ability toreassign the promotion to another user.

At action 602, a promotion is assigned to a provider or consumer. Asdescribed above, the promotion may be purchased or otherwise awarded toa first consumer or a provider. Assignment of the promotion may occurusing a promotion assignment database. For example, the promotionassignment database may track every promotion generated using thepromotion and marketing service 102, and the providers or consumers towhich the promotions are assigned.

At action 604, a request to transfer the promotion is received. Forexample, a provider or first consumer may select an interface controlsuch as described above with respect to FIG. 3 to initiate a transfer.The request may include an identity of a recipient consumer orconsumers, or the request may indicate that the transfer is intended tobe recipient-agnostic (e.g., a “free for all” reassignment).

At action 606, a prompt may be generated for accepting the transfer. Asdescribed above, a recipient consumer may be presented with anotification such as an e-mail, text message, social network message, orthe like with a link that can be selected by the recipient consumer tocause the transfer of the promotion. Additionally or alternatively, theacceptance prompt may be created as part of a “free for all” messagethat allows any user who selects the link to receive a transfer of thepromotion.

At action 608, a promotion reassignment trigger is received, such as inresponse to a consumer selecting a link associated with a notificationprompt. In response to receiving the promotion reassignment trigger, thepromotion is transferred to the recipient consumer at action 610. Asdescribed above, transfer of the promotion may occur within a promotionassignment database, such that the recipient consumer is associated withthe particular promotion in place of the consumer or provider from whomthe transfer was performed.

FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart showing an example of a process 700 fortransferring a promotion using a social network in accordance with someembodiments discussed herein. As described above, the promotion andmarketing service 102 may interface with a social networking service 108to facilitate transfer of promotions among providers and consumers. Theprocess 700 provides a method by which authentication measures providedby the social networking service 108 may be used to verify the identityof a recipient consumer to ensure that the promotion is assigned to thecorrect recipient. In some embodiments, the process 700 may also verifyother attributes, such as whether the recipient has performed particularactions, or whether certain external actions (e.g., non-recipientrelated actions) have occurred, such as whether a particular date ortime has passed, whether a merchant social networking page has receiveda certain number of responses, or the like. The process 700 thereforeprovides for the ability to publish or otherwise generate notificationsto multiple users for reassignment of promotions, along withverification of user identities to perform the promotion transfer usingthe promotion and marketing system. In some embodiments, the process 700may be employed to generate a “free for all” post via a socialnetworking service, or as part of a game or other interactive userenvironment for which promotions may be distributed as a prize orreward.

At action 702, a request to transfer a promotion is received. Asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 6, the request may include anidentifier of a particular promotion and one or more recipients of thepromotion transfer. Alternately, the request may specify that thetransfer is not associated with a particular recipient, and that thepromotion is a free-for-all. The promotion transfer request may furtherspecify a particular social network, and one or more social networkusers. For example, the promotion transfer request may specify that itis valid for redemption by one of the user's social network friends, aparticular social network friend, or only a particular social networkwithout any particular specified users (e.g., that the promotiontransfer may be accepted by any user of the particular social network).

At action 704, a notification is provided via the social network. Asdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 5 and 6, the notification may beprovided to a particular user, to a group of users, or as auser-agnostic post. The post may include a description of the particularpromotion, along with a link or other interface control for creating atransfer operation for the promotion.

At action 706, a promotion reassignment trigger is received, along withan authentication token for the social network. As described above, thepromotion reassignment trigger may include an indicia that a transfershould be created to a particular recipient consumer. The authenticationtoken may include data that allows for verification of an identity ofthe user with a social network service. For example, selection of a linkwithin the social networking system may generate a public key from thesocial network service along with a request to receive a transfer of thepromotion.

At action 708, the authentication token received at action 706 isprovided to the social network service for verification. Since theauthentication token is provided directly to the social network service,the authentication token may be used to independent verify whether theuser is associated with the social network account to which they purportto be associated. The authentication token may also be used to link thesocial network service account with the user's account with thepromotion and marketing service. By linking the social network accountthat selected the link to create the transfer of the promotion and theuser's account with the promotion and marketing service, the user'saccount with the promotion and marketing service may be identified asthe recipient of the promotion. In some aspects, verification may alsodetect whether a given user has performed certain actions in addition toverification of the user's identity. For example, the verification maydetermine whether the user has achieved a high score in a game, signedup for a merchant newsletter, “liked” a merchant's social networkingpage, or the like.

At action 710, a determination is made as to whether the authenticationtoken was successfully validated. If the token is successfullyvalidated, the process proceeds to action 712 where the promotion istransferred to the recipient. Otherwise, if the token is notsuccessfully validated, the process ends without transferring thepromotion.

As will be appreciated, any such computer program instructions and/orother type of code may be loaded onto a computer, processor or otherprogrammable apparatus's circuitry to produce a machine, such that thecomputer, processor other programmable circuitry that execute the codeon the machine create the means for implementing various functions,including those described herein.

FIG. 8 depicts a flow chart showing an example of a process 800 fortransferring a promotion using a social network in accordance with someembodiments discussed herein. The process 800 is operable to notify anaccount (e.g., a user account or a merchant account) of an impendingexpiration of one or more promotions assigned to the account. Inresponse to detecting the impending expiration, the process 800 maygenerate a notification to the account, reminding the account about theexpiring promotion. The notification may include an interface controlreminding the account that the promotion may be transferred in the eventit appears the account will be unable to redeem the promotion prior toexpiration. In this manner, the process 800 may improve redemption ratesfor promotions by allowing accounts that will not be able to redeem thepromotion to transfer the promotion to accounts that will.

At action 802, a promotion is assigned to an account. As described abovewith respect to FIGS. 2-7, the promotion may be assigned to the accountwhen a user purchases the promotion, when a merchant generates thepromotion, or any other mechanism for assigning or transferring apromotion. In some embodiments, assignment of the promotion to theaccount may be performed via a transfer operation such as describedherein with respect to FIGS. 6-7. The promotion may include anexpiration timer. For example, initially purchased promotions may bevalid for a particular period of time from purchase (e.g., 3 months, 6months, 1 year) during which the promotion must be redeemed.

In some embodiments, reassignment of the promotion may alter or extendthe duration of the promotion. For example, if a user transfers apromotion to another account and the promotion only has a short timeremaining (e.g., less than a day), then the promotion duration may beextended upon performing the transfer (e.g., a promotion with less thana day remaining may be extended to a full day, a week, or a month). Insome embodiments, transfer operations that add duration to a promotionmay be verified or otherwise policed to ensure that a user is notattempting to “game the system” to add duration to the promotion whilestill intending to have the original user redeem the promotion. Forexample, process 800 may verify that the recipient account is associatedwith a different user than the account to which the promotion wasoriginally assigned, or the process 800 may verify that the recipientaccount has never received the promotion (e.g., to avoid a scenariowhere a first account buys the promotion and allows the duration to runlow, the promotion is transferred to a second account refreshing theduration, and then the promotion is transferred back to the firstaccount with an extended duration).

In some embodiments, promotions may include an “extension period” or“grace period” that extends beyond the original expiration time of thepromotion, but which is not invoked unless the promotion is transferred.For example, a promotion may have a 6 month expiration timer, and a oneweek grace period. If the promotion is transferred within a certainrange of the expiration (e.g., with less than one month, one week, orone day remaining in the initial 6 month expiration period), then theuser receiving the promotion may have the expiration of the promotionextended for all or part of the grace period. In some embodiments, theamount of the extension into the grace period is controlled by theremaining time on the initial expiration period. For example, apromotion transferred one week prior to the end of the initialexpiration period may receive one day of time into the grace period,while a promotion transferred 6 hours prior to the end of the initialexpiration period may receive an entire week of time into the graceperiod. In some embodiments, future transfers may not add time to theexpiration timer of the promotion beyond the end of the grace period,such as to avoid perpetual refreshing of the expiration timer of thepromotion.

At action 804, the approach of the expiration of the promotion isdetected. For example, the process 800 may detect that a particularpromotion has one month, one week, one day, or any other time remainingbefore expiration. In some embodiments, the detection threshold may beconfigurable by the user, such that the user controls how frequentlyexpiration reminders are sent.

At action 806, detection of the expiration may cause a notification tobe sent to the account associated with the promotion to remind theaccount that the promotion will soon expire. The notification mayinclude a prompt or interface control allowing the account receiving thepromotion to transfer the promotion to another account via a transferoperation as described above.

As described above and as will be appreciated based on this disclosure,embodiments of the present invention may be configured as methods,mobile devices, backend network devices, and the like. Accordingly,embodiments may comprise various means including entirely of hardware orany combination of software and hardware. Furthermore, embodiments maytake the form of a computer program product on at least onenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readableprogram instructions (e.g., computer software) embodied in the storagemedium. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilizedincluding non-transitory hard disks, CD-ROMs, flash memory, opticalstorage devices, or magnetic storage devices.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described above withreference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods,apparatuses, systems and computer program products. It will beunderstood that each block of the circuit diagrams and processflowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the circuit diagrams andprocess flowcharts, respectively, can be implemented by various meansincluding computer program instructions. These computer programinstructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the computer program product includes theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus create a means for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable storage device that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablestorage device produce an article of manufacture includingcomputer-readable instructions for implementing the function discussedherein. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause aseries of operational steps to be performed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process suchthat the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions discussed herein.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrationssupport combinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and programinstruction means for performing the specified functions. It will alsobe understood that each block of the circuit diagrams and processflowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the circuit diagrams andprocess flowcharts, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedcomputer systems that perform the specified functions or steps, orcombinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseembodiments of the invention pertain having the benefit of the teachingspresented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the inventionare not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and thatmodifications and other embodiments are intended to be included withinthe scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employedherein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and notfor purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed:
 1. A method for transferring promotionscomprising: assigning a promotion to a first user account, the promotionredeemable by the first user account to obtain a good, service, orexperience; receiving a request to transfer the promotion to at leastone second user account; receiving a promotion reassignment trigger; andin response to receiving the promotion reassignment trigger, assigningthe promotion to the second user account using a processor, whereinassignment of the promotion to the second user account enables thesecond user account to redeem the promotion to obtain the good, service,or experience.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending anotification to the at least one second user account to notify the atleast one second user account of the promotion.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the notification is at least one of an e-mail, a textmessage, or a social network message.
 4. The method of claim 2, whereinthe notification comprises a link that, upon selection of the link,causes the promotion reassignment trigger to be sent.
 5. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the notification is a post to a social network.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising verifying an identity of thesecond user account prior to assigning the promotion to the second useraccount.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining thatan expiration timer for the promotion has less than a minimum durationremaining; generating a reminder notification to the first user account,the reminder notification comprising an interface control for initiatinga transfer of the promotion, wherein selection of the interface controlcauses the request to transfer the promotion to be sent.
 8. A method fortransferring promotions comprising: generating a notification using aprocessor, the notification associated with a one or more promotions andcomprising an interface control that, when selected, initiates atransfer of at least one of the promotions to a user account associatedwith selection of the interface control; providing the notification to aplurality of user accounts; receiving at least one promotionreassignment trigger in response to a selection of the interfacecontrol; and in response to receiving the promotion reassignmenttrigger, causing the transfer of the at least one of the promotions tothe user account associated with selection of the interface control. 9.The method of claim 8, further comprising causing a transfer of each ofthe one or more promotions in response to receiving a plurality ofpromotion reassignment triggers from the plurality of user accounts. 10.The method of claim 9, further comprising verifying that each useraccount does not receive more than one of the one or more promotions.11. The method of claim 9, further comprising verifying that at leastone untransferred promotion remains prior to causing the transfer. 12.The method of claim 8, wherein the notification is at least one of ane-mail, a social networking post, or a text message.
 13. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the notification is a social network post and themethod further comprises verifying the identity of the user account thatselected the notification using the social network to which thenotification was provided.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein theidentity of the user account is linked to an account with a promotionand marketing service, and wherein the transfer of the at least one ofthe promotions is caused by the promotion and marketing service.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the plurality of user accounts is associatedwith social networking contacts of a user generating the notification.16. A computer program product, the computer program product comprisingat least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readableprogram code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program codeportions comprising: an executable portion configured to assign apromotion to a first user account, the promotion redeemable by the firstuser account to obtain a good, service, or experience; an executableportion configured to receive a request to transfer the promotion to atleast one second user account; an executable portion configured toreceive a promotion reassignment trigger; and an executable portionconfigured to, in response to receiving the promotion reassignmenttrigger, assign the promotion to the second user account, enabling thesecond user account to redeem the promotion to obtain the good, service,or experience.
 17. A computer program product, the computer programproduct comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-readable program code portions stored therein, thecomputer-readable program code portions comprising: an executableportion configured to generate a notification, the notificationassociated with one or more promotions and comprising an interfacecontrol that, when selected, initiates a transfer of at least one of thepromotions to a user account associated with selection of the interfacecontrol; an executable portion configured to provide the notification toa plurality of user accounts; an executable portion configured toreceive at least one promotion reassignment trigger in response to aselection of the interface control; and an executable portion configuredto, in response to receiving the promotion reassignment trigger, causethe transfer of the at least one of the promotions to the user accountassociated with selection of the interface control.
 18. The computerprogram product of claim 17, further comprising an executable portionconfigured to cause a transfer of each of the one or more promotions inresponse to receiving a plurality of promotion reassignment triggersfrom the plurality of user accounts.
 19. The computer program product ofclaim 18, further comprising an executable portion configured to verifythat each user account does not receive more than one of the one or morepromotions.
 20. The computer program product of claim 18, furthercomprising an executable portion configured to verify that at least oneuntransferred promotion remains prior to causing the transfer.
 21. Thecomputer program product of claim 17, wherein the notification is atleast one of an e-mail, a social network post, or a text message. 22.The computer program product of 17, wherein the notification is a socialnetwork post and the computer program product further comprises anexecutable portion configured to verify the identity of the user accountthat selected the notification using the social network to which thenotification was provided.